Dominik Žganec ( 46279)

LEFT staff
20/03/2024

Briefing
on
the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council
amending Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the
Council as regards multiannual survey programmes, notifications concerning the
presence of regulated non-quarantine pests, temporary derogations from import
prohibitions and special import requirements and establishment of procedures for
granting them, temporary import requirements for high risk plants, plant products
and other objects, the establishment of procedures for the listing of high risk
plants, the content of phytosanitary certificates, the use of plant passports and as
regards certain reporting requirements for demarcated areas and surveys of pest

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI)

Rapporteur (group, nationality) Clara AGUILERA (S&D, Spain)

Report Number and Committee, COM(2023)661
reference document of the EC AGRI/9/13514
Proposed act / Procedure Ordinary legislative procedure - 2023/0378(COD)
LEFT shadow Luke Flanagan
Shadows other groups Daniel BUDA (EPP, Romania)
Ulrike MÜLLER (Renew, Germany)
Thomas WAITZ (Greens, Austria)
Bert-Jan RUISSEN (ECR, The Netherlands)
LEFT Staff Dominik Žganec
LEFT position in Committee In favour
Adoption in Committee/result + AGRI report - 13/02/2024
result per political group 36 in favour, 1 against, 1 abstention
Provisional agreement - 19/03/2024
42 in favour, 1 against, 1 abstentions
Adoption in plenary Provisional agreement - April II 2024
Request for amendments/split, No
separate and RCVs/ debate for
the plenary
Request for debate in the group No
Political relevance for our group Low
Media relevance Low
Internal position United position
Positions of other political groups Report was adopted in AGRI with the support of all the
/ possible external controversy groups
LEFT position (shadow) In favour

1
 1. Executive summary

Current regulation 2016/2031 on protective measures against plant pests was

is in force since 2019 and is the basic legal framework for the EU plant health policy
and pytosanitary system.
Aim of this legislative update is to introduce only technical changes to existing
legislation in order to further strengthen and consolidate the system of prevention for
entry and spread of pests of plants in the EU, both, those quarantine pests and
regulated non-quarantine pests, by improving different implementation measures of
the EU phytosanitary policy. Moreover, further aim is to simplify and digitalise some
of the reporting requirements as well as to establish an electronic system for the
submission of notifications and reports by the Member States. Finally, protection of
plants in the EU is further increased by a creation of an emergency team that will deal
with pest outbreaks in the Member States and neighbouring countries.
With updated regulation in place, through technical adjustments that do not
change the policy direction and basic content of the regulation, there will be an
increased protection and improved situation with regards plant health in the EU,
therefore our shadow supports the final outcome of the text as negotiated and
recommends to vote in favour of the provisional agreement in the plenary.

2. Background

Legislation on protective measures against pests of plants or plant products

has been established at Union level since the 1970s. Current regulation on protective
measures against plant pests was adopted in 2016 and is fully applicable in the EU
since December 2019 and it is the basic legal framework for the EU plant health
policy. It includes the classification and listing of regulated pests, requirements
concerning the introduction and movement within the EU of certain plants, plant
products and other objects and, finally, measures to eradicate pests. This regulation
also contains a number of reporting requirements on Member States. These
requirements relate in particular to demarcated areas and surveys of EU quarantine
pests, priority pests and protected zones quarantine pests. Together with Regulation
2017/625 on official controls, this regulation constitutes the basis of the current
phytosanitary regime for the protection of the EU territory against the introduction
and spread of plant pests. After the reporting by the Commission about the
enforcement and effectiveness of the import measures and the field experience it was
concluded that improvements of the system were needed, which are only possible by
amending the Regulation.

3. Content and LEFT position in Committee

Commission proposal is of technical nature and doesn’t change policy

direction, aim is to improve different implementation measures of the EU
phytosanitary policy with regards to:

 declarations in the phytosanitary certificate for regulated non-quarantine pests

 reporting the non-compliance with the rules applicable to regulated non-
quarantine pests in the electronic notification system

2
  procedural rules for the submission and examination of requests for temporary
exceptions to import bans submitted by non-EU countries
 procedures for identifying and listing of high-risk plants
 rationalisation of the obligation to attach a plant passport to certain plants

Furthermore, the Commission proposed simplifying and digitalising some of

the reporting requirements as well as establishing an electronic system for the
submission of notifications and reports by the Member States.
Outcome of the AGRI vote results in the reinforcement of changes proposed
by the Commission and introduction of few additional changes, which were also
confirmed later in the trilogue.

4. Trilogue outcome

There was a single trilogue organised in March under Belgian presidency. In

principle, both the Parliament and the Council have tabled same or similar
amendments to the Commission text, and agreement was easily reached. The only two
open issues discussed in the trilogue were the date of application of the regulation and
dispute on implementing acts (Council being in favour of implementing acts - to
maintain the consistency with existing procedures in 3 articles) vs delegated acts
(Commission and the Parliament being in favour of delegated acts, in order to
improve transparency to the procedures in 3 articles). Final agreement on those points
struck a balance between implementing and delegated acts, while the date of
application is set to 18 months, a compromise between the 12 months of the
Parliament and 36 months requested by the Council. Provisional agreement keeps
main objectives of the reform as outlined above with following additions:

 inclusion of a new article 19a on Plant Health Emergency Team made up of

experts appointed by the Commission and nominated by Member States,
which would help EU countries and those bordering the EU to deal with
outbreaks of pests (similar to what already exists in the field of animal health)
 establishment of a period of five to ten years for multiannual programmes for
risk-based surveys that ensure timely detection of dangerous pests, also
including a requirement that those surveys should be reviewed and updated
based on the phytosanitary situation of the area concerned
 strengthening of the provisions related to regulated non-quarantine pests in the
additional declaration to the phytosanitary certificate by adding the obligation
to mention the specific category concerned by the prohibition
 extension of the use of the electronic notification system provided by Article
103 of the Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

5. LEFT position/strategy for the plenary vote and suggested key messages

Our shadow supported those proposed technical adjustments that are needed in
order to improve the current legislation and streamline its application and
enforcement with regards to EU plant health policy, therefore, the proposal from the
shadow is to vote in favour on the provisional agreement in plenary.